Let's not forget that our gay brothers and sisters still live in Russia, and this Weeklings! is for them. It's a rundown of Russia's great and arguably gay cultural history. Putin can't erase the cartoonish, deeply LGBT glamor of furs and Chekhovian leading ladies.

A boycott of Russian vodka (specifically Stoli) won't do anything to stop Russia's crackdown on LGBT people. It's this kind of fake activism, all tactics with no strategy, that hurt progressive causes in the long run. People feel like they've done something of value when they haven't.

Though our best intentions -- and the classic protest playbook -- tell us that a boycott and international pressure is the best approach, Russia's economic and political insularity effectively shields them from any fallout. So what can be done?

Russia and vodka are so closely linked that a major boycott carries heavy symbolic weight. Russia's economy benefits from the export of vodka worldwide, and a worldwide boycott by LGBT people and our allies might get the Russian government's attention.

Even if I weren't bisexual, I'd find Russia's anti-gay policies incomprehensible. I don't understand how promoting or showing love of any sort can be wrong. I don't understand how raising children to be open, accepting, and loving of their fellow human beings can be wrong.

The state of LGBT rights in Russia is disgraceful. It's good reason to petition the president for sanctions on Russia or protest in front of the UN. But Russian LGBT rights have nothing to do with the athletes who have put in years of sacrifice and hard work to reach their "one moment in time."

Last year, a law was passed in Russia that made it illegal to hold LGBT pride parades for 100 years. But that's not stopping our LGBT Russian comrades, or any of us outside Russia, for that matter, from lining the streets of Moscow to celebrate all things LGBT -- virtually, at least.